Man perverts course of justice with false rape claim

LESS than four weeks before apologising to his victims in the Adver, Rhys Carey perverted the course of justice with false allegations of rape against another man.

The 22-year-old, whose last registered address was in Abberd Way, Calne, received a suspended sentence of nine months in prison for the offence, at Swindon Crown Court today.

On August 23 of last year, Carey walked to the house of a man, new to Swindon, whom he had struck up a conversation and understanding with over an internet chatroom.

The meeting took place under the impression a film would be watched by the pair, until this lead to Carey spending the night with the man and having consensual sex.

The day after, the men agreed to go their separate ways, though not before the victim agreed to offer Carey a lift in his car to where he needed to be.

Before Carey left the car he demanded £50 from the victim. Carey said he would accuse his victim of rape if he did not give him the money.

Carey threatened his victim with photos he had taken of him, in bed at his home, as well as with the victim’s DNA, Carey said he would have on his person following their night together.

The victim refused and there ensued a race to contact the police first. The victim logged an accusation of blackmail shortly before Carey, sat next to his victim in the car, told the police he had been raped the night before.

In a pre-sentence report, the victim said he felt faint as he was taken away in a police van, on suspicion of rape. He faced more than an hour in custody before Carey dropped his accusation, during questioning at the police station.

Carey had also been arrested at the same time of his victim under suspicion of blackmail.

Twenty-five days later, Carey walked 16 miles to the Adver’s office in order to apologise to the long list of people, who fell victim to his robberies on the streets of Swindon.

He suffers from a range of illnesses including epilepsy, diabetes and hydrocephalus which means he has no frontal lobe to his brain, resulting in him lacking the proper ability to empathise with others and he cannot control his emotions.

In sentencing the defendant, Judge Tim Mousley QC, said: “As a result of that story, [the victim] was arrested and detained. He was released when you admitted the activity had been completely consensual.

“It follows from that, you perverted the course of justice.

“In this case, it’s so serious that a custodial sentence is justified.

“If this case had gone before judge and jury the sentence would have been in the region of 12 months imprisonment.

“There is a positive report detailing your excellent level of compliance and engagement with help for your drug issues.

“In addition to your sentence I add three conditions: there will be a supervision requirement for 12 months, a medium intensity drug rehabilitation course for four months and a full Thinking Skills programme.”

The judge decided to suspend the sentence for 18 months because Carey had been complying with the terms of an existing suspended sentence since August 30 of last year.

The judge also referred to the defendant’s learning difficulties, as well as his no longer being homeless and attempts to tackle his drug problems as other justifications for suspending the sentence.